Sights in China
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The Bund Architecture
Symbolic of colonial Shànghǎi, the Bund (Wàitān)was the city's Wall St, a place of feverish trading and fortunes made and lost. Coming to Shànghǎi and missing the Bund is like visiting Běijīng and bypassing the Forbidden City or the Great Wall. Originally a towpath for dragging barges of rice, the Bund (an Anglo-Indian term for the embankment of a muddy waterfront) was gradually transformed into a grandiose sweep of the most powerful banks and trading houses in Shànghǎi. The majority of art deco and neoclassical buildings here were built in the early 20th century and presented an imposing – if strikingly un-Chinese – view for those arriving in the busy port.
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Téngwáng Pavilion
This nine-storey pagoda is the city's drawcard prerevolutionary monument, first erected during Tang times.
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Temples
Zūnyì has two active Buddhist temples. Built in the 1920s, the very well maintained Xiāngshān Temple (湘山寺; Xiāngshān Sì) is situated on a small hill in a lively part of town. Báiyún Temple (白云寺; Báiyún Sì) is more rundown but still quite charming.
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Tǎchuān
Located 3km northwest of Hóngcūn is the tiny little village of Tǎchuān. It's set at the base of a valley and noted for its stunning autumn scenery. Each year, the leaves on old-growth trees in and around the village change colours for anywhere between 10 to 30 days. The entire valley comes ablaze in shades of orange, green and brown, much to the delight of photographers. On other days, the villagers eke out their living by planting rice and tea. From afar, the village looks like a pagoda as it's built across the steps of foothills. House 18 has some of the most exquisite wooden carvings in the region. Admission includes a guide with limited English-speaking skills.
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Tap Seac Square
This new square lined with important historic buildings (Cultural Affairs Bureau, Central Library of Macau, Library for Macau’s Historical Archives) was designed by Macanese architect Carlos Marreiros, who also created the Tap Seac Health Centre (adjacent to Cultural Affairs Bureau), a contemporary interpretation of Macau’s neoclassical buildings.
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Tang-Dynasty Pagodas
These pagodas won't give you a 'wow!' moment, but you can hang with the old dudes getting haircuts, slurping tea and playing their endless mah jong games, south of Jinbi Lu. West Pagoda has surroundings a tad livelier; East Pagoda smacks of a new edifice – it was rebuilt in the 19th century after either a Muslim revolt or an earthquake (foreign and Chinese sources conflict).
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Tàishān Temple
Not far away is this larger temple, whose simply stunning Qing murals depicting popular myths (with the usual mix of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian figures) were whitewashed – some say for protection – during the Cultural Revolution. A professor from Qīnghuá University helped to uncover them; you can still see streaks of white in places.
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Taipa
Traditionally an island of duck farms and boat yards, Taipa is rapidly becoming urbanised and now houses hotels, a university, a racecourse, a stadium and an airport. But a parade of baroque churches, temples, overgrown esplanades and lethargic settlements mean it's still possible to experience the traditional charms of the island.
Taipa Village, in the north-central part of the island, is a window to the island's past. Here you'll find the stately Taipa House Museum, housed in five waterfront villas that give a sense of how the Macanese middle-class lived in the early 20th century. Also in the village is the Church of Our Lady of Carmel and temples including Pak Tai…
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Sunday Market
Hotan's most popular attraction is its weekly Sunday market . The colourful market swamps the northeast part of town and reaches fever pitch between noon and 2pm Xīnjiāng time. The most interesting parts to head for are the gillam (carpet) bazaar, which also has a selection of atlas silks, the doppi (skullcap) bazaar and the livestock bazaar.
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St Joseph’s Seminary Church
St Joseph’s, which falls outside the tourist circuit, is one of Macau’s most beautiful models of tropicalised baroque architecture. Consecrated in 1758 as part of the Jesuit seminary, it features a white and yellow facade, a scalloped entrance canopy (European) and the oldest dome, albeit a shallow one, ever built in China. The most interesting feature, however, is the roof which features Chinese materials and building styles.
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St Joseph's Church
Erected by the French in 1917, this Catholic church is the largest church in Tiānjīn; pop in to look at the splendid interior. English Mass is at 11.30am on Sundays.
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Southwest Coastline
Dàlián's southwest coast is dotted with pleasant beaches that boast both a laid-back community feel and a subtly exotic distinction. At Fùjiāzhuāng Beach , a popular beach set in a deep bay, junks float just offshore, small broken islands dot the horizon, and loads of families can be seen having fun. Take bus 5 from Jiefang Lu (Y1, 20 to 30 minutes) and get off at the square across from the beach.
From Fùjiāzhuāng you can walk to Xīnghǎi Sq along a combination of sidewalks and boardwalks that runs along the contours of the coast. At Xīnghǎi Sq, which is sporting some heady architecture these days, the path crosses a pedestrian bridge, widens and continues for…
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Southern Great Wall
This Ming-dynasty construction is 13km outside town – reach it by bus (Y5) from Fènghuáng – but it doesn't compare with the bastion that fortified north China.
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Sōngyáng Academy
At the foot of Tàishì Shān sits one of China's oldest academies, the lush and well-tended Sōngyáng Academy, which dates to AD 484 and rises up the hill on a series of terraces. In the courtyard are two cypress trees believed to be around 4500 years old – and they're still alive! Within walking distance of the academy, the Sōngyuè Pagoda, built in AD 509, is China's oldest brick pagoda.
Both bus 2 and bus 6 (Y1) from Dēngfēng run to the Sōngyáng Academy.
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Slogans
Slogans Communist heritage
Pop into No 153 Xi Dajie for two red-blooded slogans from the Cultural Revolution that have survived on buildings within the courtyard. The one on the left intones: 工业学大庆 ('Industry should learn from Dàqìng'); the rarer slogan on the right proclaims: 认真搞好斗批改 ('Earnestly undertake struggle, criticism and reform').
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Slender West Lake Park
Stretching noodle-like northwards from Da Hongqiao Lu towards Dàmíng Temple, this park is decorated with pretty willow- and peach-tree-lined banks dotted with pavilions and gardens. It was a favourite vacationing spot of Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century and it's not hard to imagine why as it's particular moving and moody on a misty day, yet cheerful and colourful in good light.
A highlight is the exquisite triple-arched Five Pavilion Bridge (五亭桥; Wǔtíng Qiáo), built in 1757. Another interesting structure is the 24 Bridge (二十四桥; Èrshísì Qiáo), its back arched high enough to almost form a complete circle, allowing boats easy passage.
The combined…
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Site of the Lúshān Conference
Also called the People's Hall, this was the venue for the CCP's historic confabs in 1959 and 1970.
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Silk Workshop
Past the carpet factory, southeast of Hotan, is the small town of Jíyàxiāng (吉亚乡), a traditional centre for silk production. You can look around the fascinating workshop (sīchóuchǎng; atlas karakhana in Uighur) to see how the silk is spun, dyed and woven using traditional methods. A return trip by taxi to the workshop, taking in the carpet factory, costs Y60.
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Shipton's Arch (Tushuk Tash)
This natural rock arch is reputedly the tallest on earth, an incredible 1200m high. The first Westerner to describe it was British mountaineer Eric Shipton during his visit to the region in 1947. Successive expeditions attempted to find it without success until a team from National Geographic rediscovered the arch in 2000. The arch, located 80km northwest of Kashgar, receives few visitors. Kashgar-based tour operators can organise day or overnight trips. The journey involves one hour over paved highway, one hour over a rough 4WD-only track and then 30 minutes of steep climbing. The ascent to the arch involves climbing up ladders to an elevation of 2800m; bring sturdy…
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Shàolín Temple
The largely rebuilt Shàolín Temple, some 80km southwest of Zhèngzhōu, is a victim of its own success. A frequent target of war, the temple was last torched in 1928, and the surviving halls – many of recent construction – are today besieged by marauding tour groups.
Note that most, if not all, of the temple halls are very recent rebuilds, as many – such as the main Great Treasure Hall (大雄宝殿; Dàxióng Bǎodiàn; reconstructed in 1985) – were levelled by fire in 1928. Some halls only date back as far as 2004. Among the oldest structures at the temple are the decorative arches and stone lions, both outside the main gate.
Enter the temple past stelae of…
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Shānxī Museum
This top-class museum has three floors that walk you through all aspects of Shānxī culture, from prehistoric fossils to detailed local opera and architecture exhibits. All galleries are imaginatively displayed and most contain English captions. Take bus 6 (Y1) from the train station, get off at Yifen Qiaoxi (漪汾桥西) bus stop across the river and look for the inverted pyramid.
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Shànhuà Temple
This temple was originally built in 713; the current temple is a Jin rebuild. The grandiose wooden-bracketed rear hall contains five beautiful central Buddhas and expressive statues of celestial generals in the wings.
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Shānhǎiguān Other Sights
The wall attached to North Gate has been partially restored. The city gates once had circular enceintes attached to them, as you can see at the East Gate. The excavated outlines of the enceinte outside the West Gate (西门; Xī Mén) are discernible, as are slabs of the original Ming-dynasty road, lying 1m below the current level of the ground.
The Dàbēi Pavilion (大悲阁; Dàbēi Gé) in the northwest of town has been rebuilt, as has the Taoist Sānqīng Temple, outside the walls. Shānghǎiguān's Drum Tower (鼓楼; Gǔlóu) has been similarly rebuilt, with a liberal scattering of newly constructed páilou running off east and west along Xi Dajie and Dong Dajie.
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Shànghǎi Post Museum
It may sound like a yawner, but this is actually a pretty good museum, where you can learn about postal history in imperial China, tap your foot to China's official postal hymn, Song of the Mail Swan Geese, and view rare pre- and post-Liberation stamps (1888–1978). It's located in a magnificent 1924 post office, with panoramic views from the rooftop garden.
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Shànghǎi Natural History Museum
The city's new natural history museum is expected to open in 2012.
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